Men Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Guns Through Valley for Cartels

Reported by: Farrah Fazal
Last Update: 10:29 am

MOBILE, ALABAMA - Two men with ties to the Valley pleaded guilty to smuggling guns to the Gulf Cartel.

Thirty-nine-year-old Robert Carlos Mata-Ocana and 29-year-old Reynaldo Arriaga pleaded guilty to conspiracy to export merchandise in federal court in Alabama on Thursday.

The men were busted along with two other gun smugglers in November during an undercover sting operation in Olmito.

Prosecutors said one of the men contacted undercover agents to ask for a list of weapons he could buy. They said the ring leader of the operation sent Mata-Ocana and Arriaga to buy the weapons in Alabama and transport them to Brownsville.

The arsenal included AK-47s rifles, AR-15 rifles, grenade launchers, M-4s and grenades. The men were going to pay close to $100,000 for the truckload.

Mata-Ocana and Arriaga met undercover agents at a The Camperos restaurant in Olmito to figure out how to get the weapons to Mexico. Federal agents arrested Mata-Ocana and Arriaga at the restaurant.

Mata-Ocana and Arriaga admitted the Gulf Cartel wanted the weapons to fight the military. Federal agents have one other man in custody; he's waiting to go to court. The ringleader remains on the run.

The maximum penalty is five years in prison because of the guilty plea. Mata-Ocana is not an American citizen and faces deportation. Mata-Ocana and Arriaga will be sentenced on June 24 in Alabama.

http://www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Me ... R07QQ.cspx